Confessions: And we laughed!

Thank you to everyone who prayed for me and my family as we said goodbye to Grandma and went through the process of her funeral. Your prayers were answered and felt.

It was a great funeral!

I know, I know... that's kind of a strange thing to say, isn't it? But, the truth is... it was.

And we laughed!

As you'll recall from my earlier post, the pastor conducting the services had never met Grandma and asked all of us to provide him with information about her.  My parents took care of all the "statistics" about where and when she was born, about her parents and siblings, her marriage to my grandfather, and information about her career as a nurse. 

My sister along with our three cousins and I filled him in on the "Grandma tales." If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time I'm sure you've realized that our family has a rather unique sense of humor.  (If you don't know, then read here, here, here or here and you'll understand.)  In other words, we laugh with (and at!) each other. Often.  And Grandma's funeral was no exception. 

The pastor did a wonderful job taking the information from my parents and weaving a story with the memories of the grandchildren. Even the funny ones. Stories like the one provided by my cousin Shannon about the time Grandma got so tickled by the television show she was watching that she flipped over her rocking recliner chair and pinned herself between it and the wall while she continued to laugh and yell for help.  Of course, all of us stood around laughing at her.  (I think my grandfather was the one to finally help her.)

And we laughed!

The laughter continued after the funeral and graveside service.  The church hosted a wonderful meal for our family.  I had grown up in this church but had not been there since I was in high school so it was fun to explore the church building and even discover that some of the ladies preparing the meal remembered me, and I them. During this meal our family members got to talking about how much we enjoyed the funeral service and that we thought Grandma would have been pleased, too.

And we laughed!

That conversation led us to discussing how we would like our own funerals to be conducted.  For instance, my Dad insists that he does not want his casket to be open so that no one is able to talk about how bad he looks.  My uncle piped in at that point and informed us that he does want his casket open and hopes that everyone will discuss how bad he looks: "I'll be dead - I'm not supposed to look good!"

And we laughed!

My Aunt Hilma is an artist and crafter.  She wants all of her works put on display at her funeral.  We all decided that we could help my uncle out by turning the display into a sale. (Funerals are expensive, you know!)

And we laughed!

My sister, Victoria (known by all of us as "the dramatic one") insists that we hire professional mourners for her funeral.  All of us are to dress in black - veils required - and hold a New Orleans-style funeral with the procession and all.  Cue the sad, sad music.

And we laughed!

I told them that there was to be no SAD at my funeral. Tell the funny stories. Laugh at my expense.  And the family dinner afterward?  Make it a fiesta, complete with an authentic Mexican meal (someone, please call my friend Brenda - she makes the best rice, beans and tamales!) and hire a good mariachi band. Lots and lots of happy music.

And we laughed!

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.

I Peter 1:3-9 (NLT)